My father recently underwent an ileal I conduit procedure, and I knew that the wound ostomy team would be involved in his post op care. I have personally worked with Stephanie Winright for approximately 16 years, so I know the kind of care she provides. She has always been exceptional. I know that her patients love her so I knew that our experience would be nothing short of excellent. She exceeded even my expectations. Her comforting presence is only the tip of the iceberg. She is easy to talk to, easy to work with and she goes out of her way to make sure the patient and their family are well taken care of. She encouraged everyone to be present and participate during teaching and brought tools to help with visualization. She worked around my dad's schedule when she knew he wouldn't be as receptive to learning/participating due to his level of care needs. Her flexibility made my parents feel at ease that they wouldn't be missing an important part of their new approach to life with an ostomy. 

Being on the "other side" of things isn't easy, and there were things that could have gone better. Stephanie was such a support for us during this whole process. She listened, gave advice, and provided resources/support when she could. Her patience and attentiveness were incredible. She checked in with us after my dad was discharged, making sure his pouch was still being taken care of at rehab. She made sure we had plenty of supplies to go home with until we could get more pouches ordered. She gave us support group resources and names of past patients who volunteered to talk about their own experiences. She reached out to Hollister and Coloplast multiple times to get samples sent for my parents to try. She also ordered shadow buddies for my sons so they could have a doll that looked like "Pop." It was great for teaching them about what was going on with their grandpa. It opened their minds to questions and put them at ease so they wouldn’t be worried or scared by Pop's new bag. All these things to assist in adjusting to this life change! 

Being in and out of facilities after discharge made it hard to create a routine with the pouch at home, so we reached out to Stephanie on multiple occasions. We even went and saw her in the clinic for some interventions. She continues to be an asset to us and restores confidence in my parents' efforts and skills at becoming masters of this ostomy life! When he recently developed a fungal infection, Stephanie had contacted the nurse practitioner and the case manager to get him some help before we even had time to blink! 

This year has been anything but easy ... complication after complication. Having things go smoothly isn't something that we've been accustomed to this year. Stephanie has been a breath of fresh air. She truly helped all of us get through this whole process. We could not have done it without her. My parents continue to say, "Stephanie is so wonderful. Stephanie is the best. I wish we had Stephanie here. Stephanie is remarkable. We were so lucky to have her." I'm sure they would adopt her if they could! Ha! We cannot thank her enough for everything she has done and continues to do for us!

Note: This is Stephanie's 2nd DAISY Award!